Solitude
by Eingana
Summary: Post NWN2. It is said that in our darkest moments our true natures are revealed. The darkest moments for the Knight Captain happened after the War with the King of Shadows.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: As much as I loved nwn2, I didn't really like the ending. So I thought I'd write about after the OC. Be forwarned I'm a Bishop fangirl. Basically it's what I think happened to Bishop and the PC after the OC. Please review, I'd love feedback._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything._

**Chapter 1: Alone**

_Celene_

I scanned my surroundings warily, looking for someone who lived in the Planes was dangerous enough, especially when you were not sure where you were. But I was determined. I would make them all pay. But perhaps I should explain what happened after the battle against the King of Shadows…

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The chamber started to collapse around us. I was already wounded from the battle, a gash deep in my side. There was a great rumble and broken pieces of an arch blocked the only entrance into the chamber.

"Lass, what do we do?" Khelgar shouted anxiously over the ominous rumbling.

My eyes fell on the still glowing portal. That was our only way out, and I had no idea when it would lead. Time seemed to almost freeze for a moment, as I looked at each of my remaining companions. Then, for a second, my mind turned to him. _He betrayed you._ Another voice in my mind said. _Forget about him._ But I could not.

"Let's go." I said, gesturing to the portal.

Khelgar leapt through it first, then the rest of them. Casavir was last, shooting me a look that I did not know how to interpret.

As I dodged some of the rubble that fell from the ceiling, a paused and looked back at the caved in entrance. Had he made it out okay? Then somewhere inside a coldness seemed to grow, what did it matter? He did not really care about me. I unclasped the cloak around my neck and threw it on a nearby statue. I dropped the Silver Sword. I wanted nothing more to do with it. It tore everything in my life apart, gave me responsibilities and tied me up in snares I could not get out of.

There was a last groan as the entire ceiling gave way, I fled through the portal and was greeted with a flash of bright light and then darkness.

When I awoke, I was alone and there was a rough bandage around my side. I was aware of a hissing sound around me. I could feel the heavy shackles around my wrists. I heard a deep chuckling somewhere to my left, but my head was still fuzzy and I could not quite focus on anything. And thus began nearly six months of torture.

I will spare the majority of the details, considering the fact I have no wish to relive any of it again. But let me say this, whoever my assailant was, they knew how to torture and no small detail was spared. They were not wrong when they said that demons knew how to torture.

I hung on the edge of death for nearly four out of those six months. But time had not meaning for me. There was only pain, it was only after I found out how long it had been. One thing kept me alive. Revenge.

My torturer's name was Mezzedrel, or so he said. A planar being, a cambion I soon identified, a half demon.

Any pain, or humiliation he could think of, he put me through it. Even going so far as to dangle me into a pit of Shadow Mastiffs, they leapt and snapped at my head, as he hung me upside down. Deep in my subconscious, I was making a tally. I was counting the things he did, but consciously I was just trying to die.

"Hello, precious. How did you sleep?" His mocking voice called out from the shadows.

I felt my breath in rasps, my chest was burning. One thing was on my mind, escape. But I had a feeling death would be easier than escape.

He took out a small dagger, one I had grown to hate. It had a minor acid enchantment. My skin blistered when the blade was run over the skin on my arms, and the blade had not even broken the skin. The burning slowly grew unbearable. I felt myself cry out in pain. The blade was taken away from my arm.

"Already, precious? But I'm only starting." There was a vicious grin plastered on his face.

Gods I hated him. But the Gods had abandoned me, hadn't they?

I faded into the blackness of unconsciousness. I think twice I stirred from it, only to fall back to the darkness once more.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks to Aeryn Pheonix for the review. Please r&r, feedback is appreciated._

_Disclaimer: Still don't own any of it._

**Chapter 2: Hope**

_Celene_

My eyes opened a crack sometime later. The chamber was empty. Somehow my thoughts seemed coherent, well more coherent than they had been. I looked at my scarred and bruised arms, knowing that the rest of my body probably looked the same. I would not even have the strength to lift a sword. All I could do was laugh at my situation, but even I was surprised at how hollow and broken it sounded. The laugh quickly turned to dry sobs. Everyone had once depended on me to help them, to solve their problems, to rescue them. In the end however I was alone, no one would rescue me. Somewhere in my mind a little voice asked what if I had taken up his offer. Left back before the trial and stayed in a camp for a year or two in the wilderness. Another part answered, _He probably would have stabbed you in your sleep._

My tired eyes caught sight of something glimmering on the floor. I reached over to it, much to the protests of my muscles. I picked it up in my hands and fumbled it. Muscles that had not been used in months screamed with pain.

It looked like a lock pick, a broken one at that and old, it had been here for some time. But most likely still useable. The heavy iron chains had crude locks. I tried the lock pick on one of the manacles, trying to remember how to pick locks. I may have been a Ranger, but I did have a few skills outside of that area. I did get into some trouble in my life.

I heard a faint click as the lock opened, and the manacle fell off my left wrist. A new feeling surged through me. _Hope_. I scrambled to pick the remaining three locks, hoping that the lock pick did not break. As the last manacle fell to the floor with a dull thud, I tried to stand. Big mistake. My legs crumpled beneath me from the lack of use.

I don't know how I did it, but I clawed by way through the caverns, maybe I could find the exit. My limp legs dragging along behind me.

I heard a shuffling sound in the darkness somewhere ahead of me. I panicked and rolled into the shadows. Not a moment too soon as some kind of creature walked past me. It did not appear to notice me. I let loose a breath I had been holding. I waited for a moment before crawling onwards.

Luck seemed to be on my side for once, as I came upon a caved in area of the caverns, and a beam of bright light cascaded through a small opening. I scrambled through the opening, thanking my luck that I was slender enough to pass through it.

I fell out into a snow covered area. It was so cold, but I was free. I started laughing. I was free! My eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the light once more. I looked around. I was in a sparse area of a frozen forest. The trees looked like they were made of ice.

I tried to stand, pulling myself up to my feet on some nearby boulders. I did not collapse straight away, lasting a little longer than before. This wasn't going to work. I needed a different plan. I glanced down at my bare feet. I tried to move my toes. Nothing. Stubbornness set in and I sat in the freezing snow, determined to get my legs to work in order to complete my escape. I wouldn't get very far unless I could walk. I kept trying, until one of my toes moved slightly.

I heard an angry roar echo through the opening. He had found the chamber empty. Shit, that wasn't good.

I tried to stand again, this time my legs wobbled dangerously, but they supported my weight, just. I took a tentative step forward. I immediately stumbled, but I remained standing. My legs hurt badly, but I had to start walking, cover my tracks and hide.

That's what I did. I covered my tracks and about a mile into the ice forest, I found an empty burrow to hide in for a while.

I scrambled into the earth. Crawling past gnarled roots. I huddled in the hole in my rags for two days. My stomach grumbled the entire time, reminding me of how hungry I was. Stale bread was not the most filling of foods.

I cautiously peeked out from the burrow. I could make a break for it now. All I saw were the eerie trees, no wildlife, no sounds. Silence.

Much like a rabbit, I made a run for it. Though it was more of a hobble than anything else. I kept walking in a direction away from where I had come, trying to put as much distance between myself and that place as possible.

During my journey, I seethed inside. Something inside of me had been awoken in the past months, a very dark side. There was one thing I yearned for more than food and warmth. Vengeance. Vengeance fuelled me during those days. I caught whatever I could to eat. I made a makeshift skinning knife with a piece of sharp flint that I had found. Anything I caught with fur I skinned and made a rough cloak to wear.

I was barely surviving, and was half starved most of the time. It was difficult to care for my half healed wounds. It was still relatively difficult to walk, but my stamina started to grow out of necessity to survive.

It was two weeks later that I finally fell upon a city. A small one, but a city none the less. That meant the rags I wore would be noticed less, I would be taken for a beggar. That was fine by me. Beggars sometimes had ways of finding things out. Maybe one could tell me where to find a good weapon smith. I had some revenge to act upon.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Still don't own anything._

**Chapter 3: A Pact**

_Celene_

The city had a name that was not important to me. I was focused on only one thing. I discovered one thing when I was there though, it was easier to survive in the wilderness.

The city seemed drab in comparison with those in the Prime. More greys than any other colour. The drab colour seemed to permeate everything, it unnerved me probably because I was so used to living in more colourful environments.

I stalked the streets, keeping out of sight of any Demons or Devils, I still had problems distinguishing them. The city itself may have been drab, but the creatures living there were not. So many species lived there and went about their business. It was interesting, I admit, to watch them. Still, I was on a mission now.

I tried to commit the layout of the city to my memory, every potential hiding place and shortcut if I needed it. Some crooked streets did not seem to go anywhere. I didn't like this new world, nothing was familiar and I was alone. No quips from Sand, no bickering between Khelgar and Neeshka and no innuendos or sarcasm from _him_.

I drew my ragged cloak around myself, shivering slightly. The cold seemed to seep into my very bones. This was definitely turning out not to be one of my favourite places.

I wandered past various merchants, each calling out what they had for sale. I scanned my eye over their wares. None had what I was looking for, though one did have some fruit on display. My stomach grumbled loudly, reminding me of how hungry I was.

I pushed my way through throngs of various creatures. I spotted a weapon smith, but on closer inspection the weapons were not what I wanted, and the distinct lack of gold or any other way to pay more or less put them out of my reach.

I spent four days on the streets, trying to survive. No one had any information or advice useful to me. My frustration steadily grew. To top it off, I had the growing suspicion I was being watched. The Planes were placing me on edge.

On the fifth day, near dusk, I spotted the bastard who had been torturing me. I ducked into a side street, still in no condition to fight. He walked straight past my hiding place, oblivious to my presence.

There was a malevolent chuckle from behind me, somewhere in the shadows. I backed against a wall, immediately thinking it was that bastard Cambion or one who worked for him.

Slowly a shadowy figure emerged, placing me in a panic that it was something to do with the King of Shadows.

The shadows solidified into a human shaped form. Glowing green eyes bored into my own red ones. The being gave a fanged grin. The shape settled on something similar to a human female. Violent green eyes, and an ashen grey skin, with what seemed to be shadows dancing beneath it. She wore all black, with a hood hiding her head, except for her face.

"Well, Little One, you are an interesting find." There was no way to describe her voice. It sounded like many voices at once, but the most noticeable was the one with a growl behind it.

"Strong, after so long in shackles, and your heart…" There was a brief hiss from the creature. "I sense a darkness upon it."

"What do you want?" I wish my voice did not sound so shaken when I said it.

"You are interesting, Little One. And a promising find with all that darkness clouding your soul and heart." She growled at me.

"Why 'promising'?"

There was a low chuckle. "You have much darkness over you, Little One. It has been there for a long time, beneath the surface, but now it rises. You seek vengeance."

"What of it?" My nerve slowly returned to me.

The creature vanished and reappeared next to me. "I can help you." The creature half purred. "In exchange for something."

"I can do it myself."

The creature chuckled again, as if she was dealing with a small child who did not understand. "You smell of the Prime. How will you return there? If you return there how will you exact your revenge to the most fulfilling. How will you get to a fingers width of your target, so you can destroy them? I can teach you of these things."

She had piqued my interest with that speech, I had not really thought about all of this. But then, as Daeghun once told me when I was growing up, things are often not what they appear. This creature, whatever it was, could be out hunting me instead.

"What are you?"

The chuckle held more of a growl this time. "Something much more powerful than you, Little One. I can show you, but here is too confined for my true shape."

I had seen even Balors walk through these side streets, and those were the largest creatures I had seen up until that point. What could be bigger? My thoughts trailed like this for a few moments. The only thing I had ever seen that was larger than a Balor was the Red Dragon.

"Dragon." I whispered, becoming desperate to get away.

"Shadow Dragon, Little One. Dragon is a very generic." Now it was just getting worse. I had found a book on Dragons in the Keep library. I had thought Red Dragons were bad, but Shadow Dragons were thousands of times worse, more evil than Red Dragons and Black Dragons combined.

"I haven't met a Dragon yet I could trust."

"Ah, but I have an offer."

"So did the last one."

The shape shifted Dragon seemed to ponder this for a few moments. "A Pact then. A magical bond to ensure we both keep both ends of the bargain."

That was tempting. "You could still kill me."

The Dragon shook her head. "No, if under its effects that means I have broken the Pact and I will forfeit my already long life."

"What's your offer?"

The Dragon gave me another fanged grin. "I can teach you everything you need to know about becoming an Assassin, even teach you a few tricks about Shadows and I will take you back to the Prime."

"And my half?"

"I have a rival of sorts here. She had intruded in my territory for the past two thousand years. I want her dead, but she has placed magical wards around her cave that prevent me from killing her myself."

"And what exactly is this 'she'?"

"A meddling Black Dragon. She has already sent her own bounty hunters after me, I believe it time to return the favour. You are the one I wish to do it, that darkness in you, I revel in it. I can tolerate your presence. Your Dam was a Drow, Little One. I can smell it. I like the Drow, Little One. We are not so different. Your darkness is inherited too. Embrace it, and I can teach you many things. If you agree to our Pact…" The Dragon trailed off.

This was a tempting bargain, and with a powerful Ancient Dragon. It was offering all of this help in exchange for slaying another Dragon, a Black one. Well, I had killed two other Black Dragons, but I had help from my friends. That brought up painful feelings.

The Dragon's eerie, vibrant green eyes looked expectant as I pondered the offer.

"I have no weapons." The Dragon's fanged grin widened as the words left my mouth.

"I can provide suitable things from my horde, and enchant them too. Is that an agreement?"

I felt like I was making a deal with an Archdevil, still, it would be worth it to destroy them all.

"Yes."

"Excellent. Come." The Dragon said while taking hold of my shoulder. "We will perform the Pact in my lair."

I felt shadows close in around me, blackening everything out. Suffocating my breathing. They cleared just as quickly as they closed in. I found myself in a well lit cave, with an oily black Dragon standing over me. She lowered her head, locking her eyes onto mine.

"This is my lair." The strange voice sounded more suitable coming from a giant Dragon.

"To perform the Pact, you must make a cut on your arm. I will do the same. We must allow our blood to mix, and then I will recite words to make our Pact. Understand?"

I nodded, gripping my makeshift skinning knife in one hand. I held out my right forearm and cut into it, the blood immediately welling up and pouring out.

The Dragon raised her right foreleg to her teeth and bit into it. She held down her foreleg and I touched my bleeding forearm to it. Then she recited words in a language I did not understand. Draconic, I put it down as. The words were a mixture of hisses and other sounds that were not strange coming from a Dragon.

I felt light-headed as the words washed over me. I watched with an odd curiosity as our bloods mingled. Then the wounds closed over. She was left unmarked, but I now had a tattoo on my forearm. It was black, in the shape of a sinuous Dragon, the tail seemed to wrap around the upper part of my forearm, and the head rested on the inside of my wrist.

"It is done. Remember, Little One, death if you do not hold up your end of the bargain, and death if I do not hold up mine."

The Dragon watched me with what I could describe as amusement as I examined the tattoo. I realised something.

"Do you have a name? Or will I have to call you Dragon?"

The Dragon snorted. "You could not pronounce my name, Little One, but I will shorten it for you. You may call me Nyx."

The Dragon began to walk deeper into the cave. She looked over her shoulder at me.

"Come, Little One. You must be healed before I can teach you anything."

I followed my newfound ally further into the Dragons Den, my heart leaping at the possibility that I could now have a much better chance at my revenge.


End file.
